Impressionist Rory Bremner will be at the Festival of Education in Crowthorne

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Celebrities Rory Bremner and Germaine Greer will be among famous faces coming to a Crowthorne school as part of the UK’s first ‘Festival of Education’.

Wellington College will host the first Festival of Education in July – an event which will feature more than 70 leading figures from the worlds of education, culture and entertainment.

They include Professor Guy Claxton, one of the UK’s leading experts on the development of young people’s learning and creative capacities who believes creativity must be at the heart of all educational thinking.

The festival is supported by the Sunday Times and is for parents, students, teachers, grandparents, policy-makers business leaders and anyone else interested in education.

It will take place on Saturday, July 3, and Sunday, July 4, and feature presentations, debate, workshops, performances and more, all at the college off Dukes Ride.

“With the participation of so many leading figures, this festival launches the great education debate for the 21st Century.

“It will be an event of substance and purpose and we intend it to become a key annual fixture in the education calendar.

“At stake are young minds and how we shape the future.

“These debates are usually held behind closed doors but education affects us all so the festival is open to all and has been made affordable and accessible.”

Among the items on the agenda are a talk from impressionist Rory Bremner on what schools should be doing for dyslexic children and a presentation from journalist and author Toby Young on his efforts to set up his own school.

The festival will conclude with a debate led by Australian feminist academic Germaine Greer and Kelvin MacKenzie, former editor of The Sun newspaper, around the topic ‘you don’t need a good education to live the good life’.